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Hurra-yi Khuttali (fl. c. 1006 – c. 1040) was a princess from the Ghaznavid dynasty and the daughter of Sabuktigin, ruler of Ghazna (now in Afghanistan); her date and place of birth are unknown. Her intelligence and tactfulness gave her an influential role in governmental matters. She was married to two Maʽmunid rulers of the Khwarazm region, Abu al-Hasan Ali and, after his death, his brother Maʽmun II. It is not known if she had children with either of her husbands. Her marriages were a direct cause of the annexation of Khwarazm by her brother, Mahmud of Ghazni. In 1030, upon Mahmud's death, she wrote a letter to her favourite nephew, Masʽud, urging him to claim the throne from his brother, Muhammad. After receiving her missive, Masʽud quickly marched to Ghazna and usurped the throne. Hurra's letter is considered the most prominent political act of a woman during the Ghaznavid era. She is last mentioned in 1040, leaving Ghazna for India; her ultimate fate is unknown. (Full article...)

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In the news

Jim Lovell in 1969

American astronaut Jim Lovell (pictured) dies at the age of 97.
In cycling, Pauline Ferrand-Prévot wins the Tour de France Femmes.
In association football, the Copa América Femenina concludes with Brazil defeating Colombia in the final.
An 8.8-magnitude earthquake strikes off the coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia, triggering tsunami warnings across the Pacific Ocean.

On this day

August 10

The Hungarian Battle of Lechfeld 955 by Michael Echter

955 – Hungarian invasions of Europe: Forces under Otto the Great were victorious at the Battle of Lechfeld (depicted) near present-day Augsburg, Germany, holding off the incursions of the Magyars into Central Europe.
1966 – The Heron Road Bridge in Ottawa, Canada, collapsed during its construction, killing nine workers.
2007 – Amid large protests against the impending demolition of the Queen's Pier, the High Court of Hong Kong dismissed legal attempts to preserve the landmark.
2019 – Jeffrey Epstein, an American financier and convicted sex offender, was found dead in his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center, New York.

Joséphine Fodor (d. 1870)
Angus Lewis Macdonald (b. 1890)
Aletta Jacobs (d. 1929)
Antonio Banderas (b. 1960)

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Today's featured picture

Cover art for the 2018 video game Celeste

Celeste is a 2018 platform game developed and published by the indie studio Maddy Makes Games. The player controls Madeline, a young woman with anxiety and depression who aims to climb Celeste Mountain. During her climb, she encounters several characters, including Badeline, a personification of her self-doubt who attempts to stop her from climbing the mountain. Development of Celeste began in August 2015, when game developers Maddy Thorson and Noel Berry participated in a game jam, where they created Celeste for the PICO-8. It was released as a full game on January 25, 2018, for Linux, macOS, the Nintendo Switch, the PlayStation 4, and Windows, before being released on the Xbox One the following day, and on Google Stadia in July 2020. This cover art for Celeste depicts, from left to right, the characters Badeline, Oshiro, Madeline, Granny, and Theo.

Cover art credit: Maddy Makes Games

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